Junque Ai

This excerpt expresses the Heterotopia concept that permeates my work. Heterotopias are places of otherness that are neither here nor there, such as the moment you look into a mirror. Because media technology permeates our contemporary lives, Heterotopias are in fact more a part of our existence than any other moment of history. I use these Heterotopic spaces and compose them as musical gestures, suggesting the communicative potency that it has.

“Junque Ai, a Neo-Benshi Musical” is a cinematic performance by Abe King and features Jessica RB Jones.

Originating in Japan, a traditional Benshi is a live performer who narrates over a silent film. Since the introduction of sound in film, it slowly died away as an art form in popular culture. Because there is sound in my film, consisting of experimental musical gestures, I describe this work as a neo-Benshi musical.

The narrative is about a man who believes himself to be Artificial Intelligence. He does not feel that he is a human being, but rather a machine. This is to comment on the saturation of technology within society to represent ourselves. Because this man feels so saturated, he no longer sees himself as real, but instead as a representation. From there he goes on a journey to find his creator, his “Mother,” and instead discovers his Reflection, which gives him true self awareness to what/who he is.

In this work I aim to convey that what is Artificial is man himself, an expression of Nature, yet a rebellion against her. And what we define as Artificial Intelligence is only a reflection on how we view our own sentience.